Brass intonation, mostly secure throughout, fell apart during the familiar opening toccata of Monteverdi’s opera “Orfeo.” Execution improved when the trumpeters switched to cornettos, narrow wooden horns that provided more flexibility but less heft. For anyone seeking an explanation for the invention of the modern trumpet, here it was.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Ouch
From Stephen Smith's New York Times review:
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2 comments:
You know, when I wrote that final line, I meant it absolutely, positively objectively -- "here was music whose execution necessitated the invention of a new tool by which to better realize it." The notion that it could also be read as a snarky barb toward these particular players never even crossed my mind, I assure you! (The cornetto playing really was first-rate.)
I can see that. But I'd also argue that the modern trumpet has its own limitations with regard to Monteverdi. It is so much harder to create a variety of articulations on the piccolo trumpet than on the cornetto, and even the Toccata sounds better when the articulation isn't monolithic.
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